"Neve's The City and Country Purchaser and Builder's Dictionary [A reprint of
Richard Neve's 'The Complete Builder's Guide'(1726)] (1969, Augustus M. Kelley,
Publishers, New York) describes the use of sand in laying a floor as follows
(p.216):
"...leveling the the Floor with a conveinient quantity of Sand, (if the lay the
Bricks dry, as sometimes the do [)] which they spread evenly with the Rake, then
laying the Bricks level by a Line, they (with a Trowel) put a sufficient
quantity of Sand under each Brick, to raise him full as high as (or a little
higher than) the Line, and to knock him down (level with the Line) with the
handle of their Hammer; which being done they ram in the Sand (on the side of,
and) against the bottom of th Brick with the Handle of the Hammer, to make him
lie fast.  Having thus laid the whole Floor, they strew Sand all over the
Bricks, to the thickness of an Inch, more, or less, with a Command to the people
of the House, that they let it lie for the space of five or six Weeks; now and
then sweeping it to and fro, that thereby, and by their treading on it, it may
fill up all the Joynts betwixt the Bricks."
<Mike Rodeffer:  [log in to unmask]>